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Hannah left her plate on the table and crossed the room to the girls, taking them both into a hug at the same time. They clearly loved her, and Luke liked watching her fit right in with these people. She seemed to fit wherever she was and whoever she was with, and Luke envied that.
“She’s pretty special,” Shirley said, coming to stand next to Luke.
He glanced at her and then back to Hannah, who finished exclaiming over the girls and then stepped over to embrace her sisters. “Yes,” he said. “She is.”
“Do you think you’re the one for her?”
Luke looked at Shirley fully now, not sure how to answer her. If he had to truly examine himself and Hannah, the answer was obviously no. He wasn’t good enough for her. She deserved someone who could make the fancy, off-the-wall food she loved. Someone who wanted to take her to those places, and many more, just to see her smile. Someone who had more to offer than a criminal record and dangerous people at his birthday party.
Hannah turned back to face Luke, and she gestured for him to get over there and meet her sisters.
“Excuse me,” he said to her mother, the weight of the woman’s eyes on his back as he maneuvered through the cramped living room. It wasn’t a huge space, and they’d filled it with things. In Luke’s new state of mind, he nearly tripped on a stack of magazines next to the recliner.
When he reached Hannah, she took his hand in hers and inclined her head toward the two other dark-haired women. They all belonged to each other as evidenced by the shape of their faces, and the slope of their noses.
Bethany was the oldest, and she definitely had a few more wrinkles around her eyes. They shone at him as Hannah introduced him, and she took him right into a hug. “Oh, okay,” he said with a chuckle.
“He’s gorgeous,” Ruth said in a voice that hissed like a whisper but that she clearly hadn’t tried to keep quiet.
“Shh,” Hannah said with a giggle. Bethany stepped back, and Hannah added, “And Ruth. She’s eleven years older than me, and those were her girls who did that performance when they arrived.” She indicated the two tweens. “Maisey and Diane. They’re Irish twins, and only eleven months apart.”
“One in February and one in December,” Ruth said. “Same year.”
“Wow,” Luke said, looking at the girls. They had some lighter features from their father, whose name he couldn’t remember. “You’re very good singers,” he said. “Do you take lessons?”
“Maisey does,” one girl said. “I take gymnastics.”
“You did the beat box, though,” he said.
“I learned it from videos online,” she said, beaming.
“That’s amazing.”
“Don’t encourage her,” Ruth said. “I’m trying to get heroffthe videos.”
“Oh, uh—”
“Tacos!” Bethany bellowed, holding up two brown paper bags. “Come get them while they’re still nice and hot.”
Luke blinked as everyone flowed further into the house. Thankfully, Hannah stayed at his side and put her hand back in his, further grounding him. “They’re a special bunch,” she said.
Luke watched as Bethany unceremoniously tossed the two bags on the table and one of the men dove for them as if he needed to get one in his mouth right now or he’d starve to death. The rest of them similarly attacked, like lions on fresh meat, and Luke suddenly knew why he’d be hungry later.
“You’re not missing anything,’ Hannah muttered. “It’s called Taco Cat, because Elias’s van is dressed like a cat.”
Luke squinted at the scene in front of him, and then at her. “What?”
“His van is dressed like a cat,” Hannah said, staring at the crowd too as the noise increased. “Like, legit. The vehicle has a furry suit on it, with a tail that pokes straight up in the back. It’s got eyes on the front and whiskers and the whole nine yards. Or nine lives. Whatever. He sells tacos out of the side of it. Fifteen for ten dollars. It looks like they got thirty, and we’ll be lucky if we get one.”
Luke tore his eyes from the fray. “Yeah, I’m afraid to go over there.”
She giggled and tugged on his hand. “Come on. Let’s try to get one, at least. When can you say you’ve eaten a taco that came out of a van-cat?”
Luke laughed, because he’d never said that, and he hoped he never would again.
* * *
Lukebent and fired the nail gun into the joint.Ka-chink. Ka-chink.He loved the high-pressured sound of things getting nailed together. He could work quickly with the nail gun in his hand, almost like it was an extension of his arm.
